The Power of a Normal Girl
by merinxD
Summary: Sakura is a civilian with an ability for chakra who meets up with her long time love (Sasuke) after the war is over. Their past bond ignites the spark of the future, but they will have to go back to go forward. The stony shinobi lets in the only one he has allowed himself to be vulnerable with and the normal girl becomes a swan. sasusaku. m for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the sasusaku mini series. This story will be exactly like a multi chaptered fic but the chapters will be shorter with a higher update frequency. People can send in prompts and scenes that they would like to see in this small created universe and if it fits into my image I will weave it through. :) **

**This is the first of five mini series that each have their own little universe. **

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Written, read, posted - unedited.

**ONE**

xxx

The war is over and Sakura can't believe it. The almost 17 year old village girl, born to the Haruno clan, has been in love since before she can remember - With Uchiha Sasuke. The only problem is, that her beau left Konoha a long time ago; and ever since that moon lit night she has been waiting, hoping and praying that Sasuke will come back to her and she had almost lost hope…until she saw him march through the gates of her home town with the rest of the shinobi.

They looked so regal and strong, despite being very much weakened by the war. She only wished that she was a shinobi so that she could of helped, but a civilian clans woman like herself would be looked down upon. The clans of Konoha are divided, the ninja and the civilian. It is more acceptable for a woman to marry into a shinobi family to rear the children, rather than become a nin themselves. Though Sakura's family don't feel that way. Her otou-san has a very big aversion to shinobi and there is no reason at all for it!

When Sasuke came into sight, beside Konoha's hero, bright green eyes caught with deep onyx and although many years had passed, it felt like yesterday. Then he disappeared into the throng of people and loud cheering, but her heart still felt full.

It has been months since then, and the pinkette has been seeing the lone wolf in the night times. The first time was a fluke, but after that moonlit walk, she needed to to do it again - and he was there the second night, and the third. Unspokenly waiting for Sakura at _their_ bench.

Which brings the girl to her current predicament -

"Sakura, where do you think you're going at this time of night?" Her okaa-san questions with an air of disapproval. The girl turns around with wide eyes and can't help but stammer as the words flee her completely. She is perched upon her window sill that leads out into the street, it isn't far to the ground and she is well versed in the journey.

She has never been caught before though…

"Okaa-san." Sakura manages to get out, looking guiltier than ever. "I was just…Just." She is in deep trouble.

"Going to see a boy." Haruno Mebuki states accusingly with arms crossed over her chest. Her face is shrouded by the darkness, but the girl can only guess what her expression holds.

Only, when her mother replies, Sakura is more surprised than anything.

"Be back here in one hour missy, and no longer. You are old enough to make your own choices but I do not condone a girl of marrying age prowling around in the night. I want this _boy_ here, in two days time."

"But that's the dinner!" Sakura exclaims, referring to the annual clan event for the Haruno's.

"Is that a problem?" Her okaa-san asks with an edge to her tone and the girl shakes her head quickly.

"No. I was just surprised." She fires back quickly, and her mother nods just once, turning to leave the room.

"Sakura-chan." Mebuki addresses over her shoulder.

"Hai, okaa-san." The pinkette replies, finding worry creeping into her form. Has she changed her mind?

"Use the front door, I did not raise a delinquent." Then the blonde woman is gone into the darkness of her home and Sakura lets out a heavy sigh.

With her heart still racing faster than ever, the pinkette heads down the stairs and out into the moonlit night. Sasuke is waiting for her.

xxx

"Honto gomen Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaims with a bow, her hair hangs over her shoulders with gravity and when the ninja grasps her chin, she allows him to pull her upward.

He doesn't speak, and the pinkette is lost in the blackness of Sasuke's eyes as he holds her chin scrutinisingly. His dark shinobi wear is almost unrecognisable in the darkness, but Sakura knows that it is a similar rendition of their younger years.

"It's fine." The nin finally says. Letting go of her, the Uchiha walks steadily along the cobblestone street with Sakura quick to follow.

"Sasuke-kun." She speaks up and he glances down at her, without actually turning his head.

"Hn." He responds, indicating (in his strange language) that he is listening.

"My mother found me sneaking out. I'm sorry." She intones, needing to look away from his penetrating gaze. "She wants to meet you at dinner."

Sakura gazes down at the ground but keeps time with the teen. She can't help but be terrified that he will say no. When they were children and she found him training in the forest, things were different. This Sasuke beside her isn't the same, but she can't help but love him anyway.

Still, the girl feels ridiculously inferior compared to him…Not good enough.

It seems like the moment drags on forever and Sakura is about to say - don't worry about it, that it is a silly idea - when he replies tonelessly,

"Okay."

His eyes catch with hers again and the pinkette can't help but let her surprise show.

"Really?" Sakura lets out, mouth slightly agape but she is blushing in the next instant when Sasuke smirks.

That smirk has always set her body on fire, just like those eyes…Not his regular ones, they are beautiful too. However, Sasuke's red and black cannot be compared with anything.

"Aa." He says, halting on the road near his home. Like a couple of times before, the nin indicates for her to come inside with a movement of his head.

But she needs to get back…

Shaking her head sadly, Sakura explains -

"Okaa-san is waiting, it will be easier once she knows and can deal with the shock. I'm not sure I'm ready."

"We are." Sasuke states and though his voice is hard and quick, the words are comforting.

Stepping closer to the nin, Sakura gathers her courage and takes a hold of his hand.

"Sasuke-kun." She murmurs, "Kiss me?"

Her request isn't a big thing, but they have only done this a handful of times. So when he nods, Sakura's smile is instantaneous.

The teen leans down and very softly joins their lips, as his hand cups her cheek and she notes how calloused his fingers are. His other hand sits in his pocket, but it isn't because he isn't feeling the moment.

It only takes a minute before both are wanting more and the girl has to force herself to pull away. Sasuke is so close and his tongue is so warm, his lips so soft.

Realising that she is now against firm shinobi torso, the girl lets out a small contented sigh. She would give herself to this man in an instant, even with his dangerous reputation.

Sasuke will never hurt her…

Gazing up into onyx with her arms now looped around his neck, a sudden urge overcomes her and she has to voice it.

"Show them to me." She whispers, reaching to touch just below his eyes. He flinches for a second before relaxing and it causes Sakura to remember the first couple of weeks of their meetings, how withdrawn he was.

Sasuke's eyes close and he lets out of breath. With his next inhalation, lashes flutter open to reveal the familiar red and black, but they are altered now. When they were children his eyes were a different pattern.

Still…

"Beautiful." She admits, still touching beneath his eyes. "Are they dangerous?"

"Very." He replies and their proximity lets her see the minute narrowing of the crimson.

He could probably kill her with these eyes, but Sakura doesn't care.

Leaning up, she places one last chaste kiss upon his lips and Sasuke lets her, arms limp at his sides.

"I love you." The pinkette says as she pulls away, and he closes the distance again, holding Sakura's waist now. There is a new feeling within his closed mouth kiss and it is over as soon as he pulls away, stepping backward stiffly.

"Come to me tomorrow. Lunch time." He states and Sakura nods dumbly as he retreats through the Uchiha compound gates.

The next two days are going to be very nerve wracking.

xxx

Posting two chapters today. All chapters will be anything from 1000 - 2500 depending on the time and scene that I am filling. 

See you,

MerinxD


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to the second chapter of the mini series. Hope you like it. Next chapter will be written in a day or two. :)**

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Written, read, posted - unedited.

**The Past I**

**TWO**

xxx

Her breathing is heavy and foot falls hard when the pink haired girl stumbles through the under brush of the forest. Her pursuers are not far behind and Sakura can hear their taunting calls. The dreadful children have been picking on her for years, ever since school started. They have never been so vicious before, not until today. Coincidentally, not even half an hour before was first time that she stood up for herself and told them to leave her alone.

The tear streaked pinkette realises as she runs from a beating, that it was a bad idea.

It can't be helped though and she needs to focus. If Sakura stops now the group of children will get her and she won't be able to protect herself.

Why didn't she run into town? The forest isn't a safe place for a 9 year old girl with no way of defending herself.

The wind gushes and pink tendrils obscure her vision, but Sakura keeps running. Her breath is panting now and they are getting closer, she has a matter of moments before the girls and boys find her.

Seeing a particularly wide tree near a clearing up ahead, the civilian girl pushes herself, forcing energy into her little legs, leaning forward for momentum.

_Come on!_ Her mind spits and determination fills her green orbs as the tears begin to dry. The area is only a meter or so away and with one last effort, Sakura leaps forward to slide against the dirt ground.

Her knee is scraped along with her hand, but she is hidden from view and _might_ be able to escape them.

This is what she gets for being unusual looking with the ability to use chakra. Years have passed since she showed her class mates the 'ninja trick' that she found in one of her otou-san's old manuals, but she didn't know at the time that she is an anomaly.

Apparently village children can't use chakra and in that one short moment Sakura became the weird wanna be ninja girl. She just wanted to find some friends and make them forget about her enormous forehead.

That was years ago now and the girl is starting to think that she should have become a shinobi. Then she wouldn't be picked on like this, _all_ the time.

Cramming her eyes shut, Sakura stays as still as possible, not daring to breath for fear of being found.

"This way!" A voice sounds closer, and there is a rustle of leaves and twigs breaking.

"Check behind the bushes." Another says as the small stampede slows down and she can hear that the clear searching foot steps are close.

"Hey Kaito, look at that." A boy says to his counterpart and Sakura cringes, pressing against the bark. Her scared emerald zone in on a particularly sharp rock at her feet and she leans down _very slowly_ to pick it up.

It won't do much, but it's something.

"You!" Kaito growls after another moment and Sakura is ready. They have noticed the disturbed ground - she has been found.

"Forehead." A second child taunts and the dark haired ring leader grabs her by the wrist. Reefing her out into the open, he pushes her to the ground and Sakura sees her chance.

Bashing the sharp rock against his exposed foot with as much force as she can muster, the boy hollars like a wounded cat and recoils. Unfortunately, the girls haven't had their fill of 'Forehead-girl' and she is sprawled for their taking.

"Leave me alone!" Sakura exclaims as a foot makes contact with her abdomen, winding her, while another impacts her back and head. Rika is even more vicious than the two boys that she has wrapped around her finger, she is horrible.

"I bet my whole foot could fit on your billboard brow, forehead." Rika sneers. Her friends snicker loudly and one grabs a hold of her hair, dragging her up by it.

"_Stop._" Sakura pleads, knowing full well that she sounds pathetic. Her whole form has curled in on itself and her okaa-san will know what happened this time.

"Onegai!" She exclaims with one last burst of passion. Her fiery eyes lock with Rika's and the deep brown that she sees widens considerably.

"Ow!" The dark haired girl grits, "Forehead, what are you doing to me!?" She questions with a pained expression. The others keep going but Rika has stopped moving, and continues to stare. It is then that Sakura realises why. She isn't sure, because the hold on her head is the most painful thing ever (making her eyes blur)…but her hand seems to be glowing blue, and Rika's wrist is cracking beneath her grasp.

"Forehead, forehead." The other girls sing song wickedly but their leader still doesn't move.

"Minna, stop it." The brunette says to her friends strainedly, but they do not hear. There is a ripping sound and the pink hair comes free from Sakura's head in one large tuft.

The pain is overwhelming and her side doesn't feel like it can take any more, not with those boots. Her grip on Rika loosens and the sitting pinkette falls to the earth, prepared for the worst.

But it doesn't come…

Looking upward uselessly, Sakura notes that their eyes seem to be trained on something behind her. So she tilts her lolling head and when her green eyes flutter backward, crimson is the first thing that she notices. It is a boy with the darkest of hair and the most beautiful eyes in the world.

Black spots are taking over her vision though and her lids close once more, unable to stay open.

"_Leave." _An enthrallingly commanding voice murmurs but Sakura is unable to know the outcome.

Her world is now a dreamless black.

xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**THREE**

"_Leave._" Rings in her ears long after the new comer says it. It follows Sakura into the abyss of her dreams. It is a nothingness filled with black; black hair, black eyes (tinged with something more), a voice deeper than her own that pulls her further down.

It also lifts her up. Sakura feels like she is floating, swaying in the wind of this black place. It should be terrifying.

But it's comforting.

And warm.

"Idiot." The word makes its way inside, and it feels different to before. The voice isn't as harsh, and it is pleasant to her mind.

So pleasant, in fact, that she wants to hear it again…

The room is spinning as Sakura gulps in a large sum of air. Her body jolts upright but her head disagrees.

"Ugh." The pinkette sounds, holding onto her whirling head firmly. She hunches over, willing the feeling to subside.

Very slowly, her rapidly beating heart levels out, and it becomes easier to breathe. Still, her eyes remain closed and she travels over her very last memory.

_The forest!_

_No,_ she decides. This isn't the hard dirt beneath her, it is much too soft.

So where is she, and why hasn't she been left to her own misery?

The surrounding comfort hasn't waned, and the girl chances a glance at her location. Emerald peer downward first, locking upon crisp white sheets.

"A bed." She murmurs, gazing up now, carefully. The room in front of her is dim, as she stares directly at tinted glass doors. To the right is a kitchen and small sitting area. Everything is very bare. It's a little lonely.

"_Tch__." _Sounds, making her jump. It feels like her whole body moves, but really it is her heart clattering about in her chest. Sakura inhales deeply, as her breathing intensifies again.

"Idiot." The voice says again, and surprisingly it is rather calming.

It takes away her fear and she finds herself turning, looking to her left at a boy perched upon a nearby chair.

He is familiar…

The boy from the forest!

"You passed out." The raven haired youth says, blankly this time; with less contempt. A scowl rises to his features, and his feet move from the chair cushion to rest flat on the ground. He leans forward, elbows on his knees and his hands just touching the bed, clasped together.

"What were you doing, being chased like that?" He sounds curious, and Sakura feels inclined to tell him. He did save her after all.

"I - I defended myself…" She replies, suddenly feeling shame. It wracks through her quickly and forces her to gaze downward, at his hands. "They didn't like it. I won't do it again." She assures.

The boy sighs, like he is heavily inconvenienced and Sakura feels bad. She should go home, and stop annoying this person.

He speaks again, "_Why_ did you need to defend yourself?" The emphasis is clear, but Sakura doesn't want to tell him. He doesn't need to know.

A silence falls for a short moment, and tears begin to brim without consent.

"_Well?_" The boy asks, harsher than before.

Looking up, she meets his eyes. His voice might sound mean, but the onyx that penetrates her is caring. He is a big jumble, and very hard to understand.

The tears don't come, they just continue to build, teasing her.

"They have always teased me, for one reason or another." Sakura admits, not willing to burden him with her childish answer. If this boy is in a single apartment, he _must_have worse problems than her.

She should listen to her mother more and be grateful for her lot in life.

"Is it because you have chakra?" He asks, tone blank again. There is no inflection in his voice, but Sakura can tell that he is curious. It is just a sense.

Still, she replies, "Chakra?" Her brow furrows and Sakura begins to feel confused.

He sighs again, tiredly this time. His head bobs once, like it has been decided.

"Do you know where you live?" It sounds like a silly question, though it isn't really. She is a child, a civilian one. They aren't like shinobi who roam free at a young age.

"Yes." Sakura nods, smiling softly. Somehow, the sadness has drifted off. She is still looking into his eyes, and it makes her wonder if she will see him again after this. This feeling of acceptance, it's addictive.

"Good." He murmurs, rising from his chair. The ninja walks away, into another room and out of sight. However, Sakura is able to get a good look at him.

His clothes are just as black as his hair, and he is wearing elbow guards. There are bindings around his legs, where the edge of a weapon glints.

He comes back, walking towards her. There is an air of power surrounding him, even though he is a child. This boy feels much older.

Sakura thinks…

That she might be in love.

"Here." He holds out a damp wash cloth, and the girl stares at it dumbly.

Sighing gruffly, he reaches out, gripping her wrist. His hold is surprisingly soft as he wipes away the dirt.

_Oh_…

Understanding comes to her, and Sakura feels like a fool. Her other hand moves to stop him, to take the cloth. Her fingers touch his hand, and it's so very warm. It fills her to the brim and forces her to glance to the side. There is a blush covering her entire form now, and she is just able to take the cloth.

"I can do it." She murmurs, completely embarrassed.

He doesn't speak, merely sits down beside her.

It feels weird…

"Go home after this." The boy orders. It's straight to the point and makes her heart clench painfully.

She will leave, and likely never see him again. It makes her sad.

"Okay." Sakura replies, refusing to look his way.

Methodically, the girl removes as much dirt as possible. There is nothing that she can do about the bruises, but maybe she can pass them off as something else.

"After school, this day next week, meet me at the forest." He tells her, and the cloth falls to the ground with a _plop._

"Ah. Gomen!" Sakura exclaims, picking the item up quickly. Her face is a mix between shock and happiness, but she nods all the same.

Nevertheless, she wonders why he is doing this.

There is something else that she wants to know more, however.

"What's your name?" She blurts, looking directly at him. Their gazes align, and she is just able to catch his eyes widening a fraction. The blush returns in full force and her eyes fall to her feet, that are now flat against the floor.

Sakura isn't sure if he will answer, but decides to tell him anyway.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She offers, smiling at the ground. Her ears burn, and she doesn't see that his do too.

His throat clears, "Uchiha Sasuke." The boy says gruffly.

Her smile widens, and Sakura stands. Facing him, she bows shallowly.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun. You saved me." He can't possibly know how grateful she is.

"Hn." He responds, gazing out at the village through the glass.

"_Why_ are we meeting in the forest?" She wonders innocently, handing him the cloth.

His onyx travel steadily to her again,

"So that you can look after yourself." He replies.

Sakura leaves the apartment covered from top to toe in bruises, and the biggest smile possible. Her heart feels full and her body light.

Next week, she will see Sasuke-kun again. She isn't exactly sure what he means, but it sounds like fun all the same.

Sakura knows one thing for certain,

She is definitely in love.

xxx

**a/n **

I am updating all of my multi chapters once before National Novel Writing Month, for all fandoms. Then from Nov 1 to Nov 30 I will be writing my novel for the competition. From Dec I have leave and will be getting into everything again :) RL is too consuming sometimes.


End file.
